


Red

by obviouslyelementary



Series: Reddie Stories [9]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Canon Compliant, Implied Canon Death, Implied Death, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Sad, allusion to sex, character analyzes, one sided reddie, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:35:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21533818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obviouslyelementary/pseuds/obviouslyelementary
Summary: Richie saw Eddie as the color red.He always had, and he probably always would.
Relationships: (one sided), Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: Reddie Stories [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1482641
Comments: 10
Kudos: 23





	Red

Richie saw Eddie as the color red.

He always had, and he probably always would.

Since they were little, when they first met, he was always red. He talked fast, he was always angry and always worried, he babbled about things Richie didn't understand like germs and pills and sterilization, and things that Richie still doesn't understand, to this day. And at first Richie thought he was an annoying red, like a traffic light red that means you have to wait longer to get to the playground, or the red that came with the word 'no' which meant that 'no, you can't do whatever you want Richie'. It was an annoying red, at first, and Richie wasn’t sure he liked it a whole lot. Actually he was pretty sure he didn't like it. But Eddie was lonely, Eddie was sad, and Eddie tried to be their friend and Bill and Stan liked him, so he couldn't get that red away.

Which was good, because eventually he learned that Eddie's red wasn't that bad red he thought he was.

Eddie was blood red. The type that you see coming out of you when you do something very fun but slightly dangerous, and you fall and scratch your knee and red comes out. It's the red that calls your mom or dad's attention, makes them hurry to you and hold you in their arms and tell you 'everything will be okay, mommy and daddy are here, you're safe'. It's the red that makes your mom give you ice cream and a cool comic book band-aid, that turns back to skin color after she treats it for a few days. It's a good, but scary red.

Eddie was also lipstick red. The red your mom puts on before she goes out with your dad, the one that matches her dress and that makes her look like the prettiest woman in the world, and you're not sure if you will ever find someone as amazing as your mom when you grow up. It's the red that stains your cheek when she kisses you goodbye and you love it because its so warm and happy, but you hate it because she's leaving and you want her to give you attention. You want to cuddle her and give her hugs. It's a good, bittersweet red.

And somehow, Eddie was also marker red. The red that sticks to your shirt after you play too long with your friends. The red that is supposed to go on paper and paper only, but ends up on your sleeves and pants and face and arms because your friends like you too much not to write their names on your neck to show the world 'yes, he is ours, keep walking'. It's the red your mom screams at you about, but the one you don't want to wash because it reminds you of the fun you had that morning.

Eddie was a lot of reds.

And for Richie that was great. Because Stan was very blue and Bill was very green and he missed a red on his life. And Eddie was red.

But he grew up. And red stopped being all of those things. Red turned into something way more alarming.

Because just a few years into secondary school, Richie found out that red meant love. And if red meant love, it meant that Eddie meant love. And it wouldn't be too weird, not at all, if it wasn't for one thing:

Eddie meant love.

That was hard for Richie to conceive and understand. Eddie meant love, so what, so did Stan. So did Bill. But they weren't red. No, Eddie was red. Eddie was everything red. So he couldn't not be love. Right?

So if Eddie was red, red was love, and love was Eddie, then... where did Richie stand in all of that?

He wondered if love involved more than red. Most people said yes, but with an exception. Romantic love was red. And the other loves, parental, friend, sibling love could be whatever color you associated it with. So if you were 'in love', it was red.

So Eddie wasn't just 'love'. No, he was 'in love'. He was romantic love. Because he was red.

Maybe Richie had mistaken himself on Eddie's color. He could be yellow! Warning, the color of bruises, the sun in the sky... but it wasn't... strong enough. SO he could be purple! But it was too dark... Orange! But it was so lame... Blue? But that was Stan. And green was Bill. Brown? That was more like a bad color...

No. Eddie was red, and Richie had to accept that. That Eddie was and would forever be red.

So fine. He was red. He was love, in love, he was anger, he was energy, he was lipstick and blood, he was marker, and he was Eddie. And that was great.

But eventually... it wasn't great anymore.

Richie grew up, because of course he did. He made new friends, and so did Bill and Stan and Eddie. They formed the Losers Club with another three kids, Mike, Bev and Ben, all who had their colors. Mike was yellow, and Bev was purple, and Ben was orange, just like Bill was green and Stan was blue and Eddie was red.

Red. He was red.

He was blushing red. He was crying red. He was hurting red and he was biting red. He was tugging red and pushing red and licking red and touching red and kissing red and red red red red red.

And fuck. Richie was turning into red.

He never said anything, about Eddie being red, but he understood well enough. It was the way of his head to denying what Eddie really was, by attributing everything Richie wanted to say in a word, in a concept that had nothing to do with Eddie himself.

Eddie was red, because everything Richie loved was red, and if he loved red, he loved Eddie too. But he could say, out loud, that he loved red. As long as no one knew who red was.

Red had always been his favorite color. Red was his favorite food. His favorite smell. His favorite texture. Red was the warmth of his hugs, the gentleness of his touches, the smoothness of his skin, the softness of his hair, the breathlessness in his laugh, the puffiness of his eyes, the fabric of his shorts, everything was red.

Richie imagined his kisses would be red too. Sin red. Wrong red. Lust red. That his chest would blush red and his face would turn red and his breath would turn red and his body would burn red.

Eddie was red. He would always be red.

It was no surprise he bled red.

And that all that was left of him... was red.

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys, I'm glad you read this piece, its short but it reflects a lot on how i'm feeling at the moment, and I seem to always be able to relate to Richie a lot so I hope you like it. 
> 
> please leave a comment if you did, I would appreciate it a lot specially today since im not having the best days. thank you so much!


End file.
